


Until He Comes Home

by AliceMarie



Category: South Park
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:42:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26683873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceMarie/pseuds/AliceMarie
Summary: Kyle's life had been pretty planned out for him. His adopted parents had big plans for him but it wasn't what he wanted for his life. He just wanted to know who he was. An accident when he was ten left him alone and without any memories of who he was and where he came from. He felt like he didn't belong and it isolated him even more. During his last summer of freedom before going to college, Kyle expected nothing more that the usual boring nonsense... until he comes across 'Haven's Convenience Store'.Upon entering the small store, Kyle's world turns completely upside down and he begins a journey that he never expected he would, one that may help him to recover his past and possibly lead him home.This is a loose 'Stick of Truth' story. Elements from both the game and show will be used but there will also be many elements that are my own. There also may be similar elements to other stories on this website (it's very hard to come up with something completely original nowadays), but I promise I am not copying anyone.
Relationships: Clyde Donovan/Bebe Stevens, Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak, Eric Cartman/Wendy Testaburger, Kyle Broflovski/Stan Marsh/Kenny McCormick
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. Where He Started

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimers: There is just a "Trigger Warning" set for the entire story since I will be unable to catch everything that might trigger everyone. I also do have an account on Wattpad (Saerina Caster) where I will have this story posted, as well. There is no posting schedule, this is just a story I'm working on for fun in my free time and will post as I get further along. I am always open to comments and questions, I love interacting with others so feel free to leave one and I'll try to get back! Lastly, I know that not everything in this story will line up directly with SoT, South Park, or DnD. That's the fun of fanfiction, you make it your own. Please keep that in mind as you continue reading.

_ A prince stood within the royal garden and looked around himself. The sun was shining brightly as the birds chirped, flying through the blue sky. A small smile graced his face as he watched the rose bushes gently sway in the breeze. On one side of him stood the elegant castle, tall and proud, on the other side was the forest that held the path that led to the villages of his kingdom. Everything was quiet. Everything felt calm.  _

_ He started walking through, towards the stone pathway that would lead him towards the center of the garden where his final destination of the afternoon was, the Elder Tree. The Elder Tree was the oldest tree within all the lands, planted long ago when the prince’s ancestors first established their kingdom in the land of Zaron.  _

_ As the prince was walking through the gardens, his thoughts wandered to the history of his land. The different kingdoms of Zaron had been warring for many centuries, but recently peace seemed to have developed within the land. Though the sudden call for peace was well warranted, considering the toll it has taken on the growth and development of the different kingdoms, it still left the kingdoms on edge. _

_ The prince frowned as his feet paused in their motion. The peace was welcomed, but it left a tense feeling in the air. The King and Queen were fearful that an attack was imminent, it was only a matter of when. They kept the safety of their people at the top of their list of priorities as they continued to carefully use the peace as an opportunity to build and expand. _

_ The prince’s own safety was high on their list as well. They gave him some experienced soldier as a temporary bodyguard as they sent his usual bodyguard away to obtain better training. The prince’s heart ached as his thoughts wandered to his bodyguard, his dear childhood friend, who swore his life to protecting him. He remembered their last moments together as his loyal companion embraced him tightly and promised that he would return swiftly and resume his position by the prince’s side. _

_ He had watched his friend ride away, standing at the edge of the palace gates. The prince turned around and looked sorrowfully at his other companions who had joined him in the farewell. His close friend (closest after his guard) stepped forward and embraced the prince as silent tears fell from the prince’s eyes. His friend gently ran his fingers through the prince’s hair and continued to give him reassurances, letting him know that he would stay close to his side until their dear friend was back. The prince held on to every word. _

_ Of course that promise wouldn’t last. He couldn’t blame his friends as shortly after his guard had left, problems started to arise throughout the kingdom. Slowly, his friends started to disperse throughout as the need for their assistance grew. The last person to leave was his close friend, who wanted to stay with the prince, but needed to return back to his village on the edge of the kingdom to help his younger sister. The prince understood how important his sister was to him and sent him away, no matter how much the prince wanted to hold on. _

_ The prince felt tears fall down his face as his thoughts landed on his friends. It had been a few months since he had last seen any of his companions and it was taking its toll... _

_ The security of the castle had been increased and the supervision of the prince had been increased as well. After all, he was the future of the kingdom when he turned eighteen and was crowned. The prince felt suffocated as he was pushed harder to learn the responsibilities and duties of his role as well losing so much of his freedom. _

_ Today had been the first day that the prince had been able to escape his bodyguard’s watchful eye. He had slipped out of the castle and decided to use this as an opportunity to get some fresh air as well as visit the Elder Tree to hopefully obtain some clarity on what he was supposed to do during these trying times. _

_ That was how he ended up where he was at that moment. The prince quickly wiped away the tears from his face before straightening his posture, now was not the time to get emotional. He needed to be strong just like his friends were being at this moment. He took a deep breath and then continued on his path. The prince walked through the roses and chose to pay attention to his surroundings rather than allow his thoughts to wander off again.  _

_ As the prince arrived at the center of the garden, he took a chance to bask in the beauty of the Elder Tree. The tree was an ancestor to the common day weeping willow, the last of its kind. The long branches swept gracefully along the ground. The pale green, almost white, leaves contrasted greatly with the green from the rest of the surrounding garden. As the prince walked closer he could see the small purple flowers that bloomed during the late spring and early summer. _

_ The prince walked up to the tree and gently held one of the branches in his hands near his face, closing his eyes as he let himself connect with the Elder Tree. A warm feeling filled him as the ancient tree fondly greeted him, welcoming him into the safety of its branches. The prince opened his eyes with a calm smile on his lips, he bowed his head in respect before lightly letting go of the branch and carefully walking his way into the hanging branches. _

_ The prince finally made it past the branches and stood within the canopy of the tree. From the center where the trunk was, there was at least six feet of open land before one hit the wall of branches and leaves. Bits of sunlight streamed through the leaves and lit up different spots on the ground and a soft breeze blew through, creating a comfortable atmosphere. The prince slowly took a few more steps and felt himself relax. Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath of fresh air. _

_ The next time the prince opened his eyes, he could only look around him in horror. Around him, the garden was destroyed. The plants were dead and withered. Pieces of the stone walls and statues were scattered on the ground or in piles of rubble. The grass under his feet was brown and scorched from the fire that had engulfed most of the garden. In the midst of his horror he starts to recognize where he stood.  _

_ The prince’s body shook as he held his breath. Slowly the prince started to turn around in his spot. Fear stabbed him in the heart as he mournfully stared at a fractured stump, the only remains of the Elder Tree. The prince collapsed to his knees as tears streamed down his face. He let out a heart wrenching scream as he wrapped his arms around himself to try and bear the pain of losing everything that was important to him. _

_ __________ _

Kyle woke with a start, gasping for air while placing a hand over his chest, feeling his heart pounding fast. Kyle took a minute to recognize where he was and flopped back with a groan onto his pillow. Kyle dropped his arm over his eyes to block out the sun that was blinding him through the window. Scenes from his dream flashed behind his closed eyes and he felt himself stiffen again. Sitting up, Kyle ran a hand through his sweaty hair and looked over towards the alarm clock.  _ ‘9am? I slept in rather late today. All the traveling yesterday must have really tired me out.’ _

Kyle decided it was time for him to get up out of bed and start the day. He moved to sit at the edge of the bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He finally got a chance to look around the room he was in. It was an elegant bedroom with dark wood furniture and a red and black color scheme. Kyle felt completely out of place in his  _ grandparents’ _ guest room. 

Kyle thought about his travels from the day before. He had spent most of the day traveling by plane and car from his  _ parents’  _ house to his  _ grandparents’  _ house for the beginning of the summer. His  _ parents  _ had a business trip that caused them to go overseas, and instead of taking him with them, they sent him to stay with two people he had never met before just because they were  _ family _ . That word sat bitterly on his tongue.

They weren’t a real family in any sense of the word that truly mattered to Kyle. His  _ parents _ , Laura and Bill Walker, had adopted Kyle when he was about thirteen years old. He had been in the system since he was found stumbling through the streets, greatly injured and with no memories other than his name and birthday, when he was ten. Nobody claimed him and no memories ever returned. 

Laura and Bill were looking for an heir to their company. They were unable to have children of their own so they looked into adoption as an option. They did an extensive search until they came upon Kyle’s file. Quiet, obedient, smart, and hardworking, the qualities they had been looking for they had found in young Kyle. They hadn’t been looking to adopt a teenager, but he fit the bill for what they were looking for. The process was quick and next thing Kyle knew, he was being taken away to an empty mansion, devoid of emotions.

Laura and Bill tried their hardest to put up a front of a happy family, and they were nice enough. They provided Kyle with every opportunity they could get, as long as it lined up with their plan for his future. The best school in the state and ‘encouraging’ him to participate in multiple extracurricular activities and keeping his grades the best in his class. They pushed Kyle to be the perfect student and the perfect son, and Kyle hated it. He wasn’t allowed to be acquainted with anyone that didn’t get his  _ parents’  _ approval, so he never had any true friends. There was no happiness within those empty halls and no love behind their smiles. His  _ parents _ were always away… And Kyle was always alone.

He had graduated high school back in December and since then has been doing various lessons and college preparatory classes. Filling all his free time with prepping for the future he was raised for (at least for the last four years of his life). Now it was nearing the end of April and after he turned eighteen at the end of May, his  _ future  _ would begin. Just over a month. This would be his last bit of ‘freedom’ before he was forced to intern at his  _ father's  _ company and before he went off to the college of his  _ parents’  _ choice in the fall. 

Kyle frowned and looked down at his clenched hands. Shaking his head, he finally pushed himself to stand and made his way into the attached bathroom. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. Bright, red curls framed his pale face and forest green eyes were the ‘highlights’ of his appearance (if you could call them that). Light freckles covered the bridge of his nose. Letting out a sigh, Kyle ran a hand through his messy hair and decided it was time to get ready for the day.

After showering and brushing his teeth, he gets dressed and makes his way out of the room to get some breakfast. Walking through the hallway Kyle took his time to look at the minimal pictures hanging along the walls. Noticing how similar his  _ parents  _ were with his  _ grandparents _ . They had the same way of holding themselves as well as the same habit of not smiling in photos. 

Kyle quietly made his way down the stairs and walked through the large house towards the kitchen. It was a gorgeous modern kitchen with an attached dining room. Making his way towards the fridge he noticed a piece of paper with elegant handwriting on it hanging on the door. His eyes flashed to his name written at the top and knew exactly what kind of note it was. Scanning it quickly, Kyle sighed when realizing it was a note explaining that both his  _ grandparents  _ would be stuck at work all day and wouldn't be home till late. This left Kyle all alone to try and entertain himself in a place he was unfamiliar with. Kyle angrily crumpled up the note and tossed it in the trash, finally deciding to make himself something to eat.

After breakfast, Kyle cleaned his dishes and walked back up to his room. Flopping his body over the bed, he reaches down to grab his backpack that he used while he was traveling. Sitting back up, he opened it up and started digging through it. There were several books about business and other related topics, but that wasn’t what he was looking for. He pulled the books out and chucked them into a messy pile on the floor. Once those are out of the way Kyle finds what he was really looking for, a zipper for the ‘secret’ pocket of his bag.

A content smile made its way onto Kyle’s face for the first time since he arrived as he opened the zipper, inside was an old sketchbook. Gently grabbing the sketchbook out of its hiding spot, Kyle places it on his lap and gingerly rubs his fingers over the worn out cover. Out of everything he had, this was his most prized possession. His  _ parents  _ didn’t see the point and didn’t support his love for drawing. He had to buy the notebook secretly with some spare birthday money he had received one year and had kept the notebook hidden away since.

Kyle allowed his thoughts to wander as he opened up his sketchbook, and looked at the first drawing. The drawing was a rough sketch of a grand palace. Flipping the next couple pages there were also various landscapes, scenes and people as well. Kyle stopped on a set of pages and lightly ran his finger over the drawings. 

On one page was a knight in royal armor and the other was that of a rogue warrior dressed in purple. Out of all the drawings he had done over the last four years, these were the two that made his heart swell. He felt that he knew the two of them personally and wished to see them again. It was ridiculous and absurd, but deep down it felt real to him. All his drawings felt real to him.

They all came from the weird dreams that he had been having for the last couple of years since he had been found. He always thought that he just had an overactive imagination, but these dreams have been occurring since he was ten and even more so as he’s gotten older. The places and people never changed and he was always just watching this prince looking dude live his life. 

The only downside to his dreams was that none of the people in them ever had any faces. Kyle could name almost every detail about them from their appearance and mannerisms, he just never saw their faces. It wasn’t like they didn’t have faces, their faces were blurry and it bothered Kyle a lot because he was never able to finish any of the sketches. Kyle took one last look at the two figures and continued to the last drawing he was working on.

Kyle finally turned to the last two pages in his sketchbook, on one side was an unfinished sketch of the prince and on the other the Elder Tree from the royal garden. He had been working on it for a long time but there had never been a dream that had allowed him to see so much detail in the gorgeous tree. Kyle grabbed a pencil from his bag and got comfortable on his bed as he decided that this was how he was planning to spend his morning.

__________

After spending a few hours drawing, he decided it was time for lunch. Tucking away his art supplies, Kyle then stands up, stretches his arms above his head, and makes his way back downstairs towards the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen, Kyle grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and took a bite out of it as he made his way to the fridge to figure out what to eat for lunch. Looking through the contents of the fridge, Kyle didn’t find much food of interest, just ingredients for other meals planned out. He really didn’t want to deal with the hassle of cooking (because yes, Kyle was able to cook) so he decided that he would head out and maybe see if he could find a fast food place to eat at.

Finishing off his apple, Kyle threw the core away in the trash and headed out to the garage. His  _ grandparents  _ had left him the keys to one of the few cars they had, it was an older model, but he didn't really care. It at least gave him some freedom from being cramped up in a house all day. He walked over to the car as the garage door opened, and left to head towards the nearby city which was about ten minutes away. 

Upon parking the car, Kyle looked around him at all the tall buildings. Glass structures surrounded him on all sides and the streets were filled with people. Kyle was never a person for busy areas, he always preferred quiet parks and gardens if he was able to find one, so being somewhere so big made him shrink and feel small. He slowly walked through the crowded streets looking for somewhere that sounded good to eat. There were tons of different restaurants and fast food places to choose from, just nothing sounded good.

Cars raced by on the streets as crowds of people walked along the sidewalks. Kyle used this as a chance to look into different shops to see if there was anything of interest. Clothing, electronics, comic shops, and so much more lined the streets as Kyle made his way through. Though there was plenty to do but still nothing caught his attention. That was until his eye caught a small building in between two of the tallest buildings in the city across the street.

The small building, or convenience store as the sign near the gate said it was, would have been easy to miss, if it hadn't been for the weird pull tugging his attention towards it. The one story building looked like that of a larger tudor style house. Wooden beams lined the store in columns as gorgeous, polished stones were scattered along the ivory exterior. Large, latticed windows adorned the building probably giving the inside a fantastic view of the beautiful garden. The garden was definitely Kyle’s favorite part of the exterior.

There was a large, wrought iron gate that surrounded the premises. Two elegant weeping willow trees rested on the corners near the front of the building, blocking the view of whatever was behind the little store. Various flower bushes lined the fences around the garden filling in the area with a rainbow of colors. A small pond laid in the middle of the stone pathway with a wooden bridge leading over it towards the ornate wooden door of the store.

Kyle’s feet started to make their way towards the small convenience store before he forced them to stop in their tracks. Shaking his head vigorously, Kyle took a step backwards.  _ I'm being ridiculous right now. A tugging feeling? Being drawn towards a building? That’s just stupid.  _ With a sigh, maybe more dramatic than what was probably necessary, Kyle finally turned from the building and walked in the opposite direction. 

Kyle thought that by walking away that day, he would never see that small store again, but he was wrong. Over the course of the next couple of days he went back to the city for a myriad of random reasons that he could come up with. ‘He wanted to try out the Chinese restaurant that he saw on a corner’. ‘There was a small bookstore that looked interesting by the city square’. ‘He needed to get out of the house because it was too quiet’. No matter the reason, and no matter how hard he tried, he always found himself standing across the street from the shop. Most days he was able to keep himself across the street, staring at the store, until the day the “Help Wanted” appeared. His curiosity won and he finally found himself crossing the street.

__________

That day Kyle finally found himself walking across the street towards the little convenience store that had caught his attention five days previous (not that he was paying any attention to that). He strode across the street and stood on the sidewalk near the gate of the store and observed it more closely. Finally reading that the name of the shop was “Haven’s Convenience Store”,  _ Weird name but all right _ . People walked by him almost unaware of both his and the shop’s presence within the city. 

Kyle didn’t know why he had felt nervous at that moment as he stood before the gate, like opening it would lead him to some life changing event, but he did. Before he could allow himself to chicken out, Kyle reached forward and pushed open the wrought iron gate and entered the garden. Walking into the garden was like walking into a different realm. All the noise of the city was silenced and all that was left was the sounds of birds, the wind, and the chime above the door. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the fresh air that differed so greatly from the air of the city.

He slowly made his way through the garden while admiring the scenery around him. Walking over the bridge, he made his way towards the door of Haven’s. Staring, he didn’t know if he should knock or just enter, but it looked like the decision was made for him as the door seemed to open on its own. A breeze came out from the door. Taking a deep breath and stealing his nerves, Kyle took a step into the store. 

The first thing that hit him was the smell, a strong scent that smelled of the outdoors. The next thing that came to him was that the inside looked just like any other convenience store he had been to before. Looking around the inside, Kyle saw shelves of various kinds of merchandise, coolers lined the back wall, and displays held the center of the floor. Across from the entryway was a long hallway, ending with a dark wooden door. Kyle turned to look towards the register that sat on the counter next to the door. The counter had a clear case on the front and top, displaying more merchandise.  _ Honestly, what else was I expecting? With all the weirdness I was putting on this shop, I built it up to be something far more intriguing than it actually was.  _

Kyle had been standing inside for a few good minutes and had yet to notice anyone around the store. His head whipped around in confusion as he double checked his surroundings to make sure he hadn’t missed anyone. Scratching his head he called out into the store, “Hello, is anyone here?”

A large thump from behind the register startled Kyle causing him to jump away, groaning could be heard from behind the counter as someone quietly cursed. He heard his heart beating in his ears and his hand was over his chest. After a moment the person who was behind the counter stood up and Kyle was caught off guard by the lady who stood before him.

She looked quite young to him, she was shorter than he was and had tanned skin. She had really green eyes that were a much deeper green than his own. Her hair was white and hung in a loose braid all the way down to the small of her back, multiple piercings could be seen in her slightly pointed ears. Tattoos of flowers covered her arms and could be seen through the transparent sleeves of the lady’s pale green sun dress. She really was quite beautiful… but she wasn’t exactly Kyle’s type. She stood rubbing her head, still groaning about the ‘stupid shelf’ and ‘stupid customer’.

Kyle snapped out of his thoughts when he realized that he had been staring and that she had been asking him a question, he felt his cheeks heat up. He let out a shaky breath as he ran a nervous hand through his hair. The lady before him raised his eyebrow in question before grumpily asking him again, “Can I help you something?”

Kyle was a little caught off guard by the harshness of her tone but honestly felt it was well deserved considering he had been staring at her for a good minute or two. Shaking himself out a little, Kyle finally answered her. “I apologize for my previous rudeness. I was actually wondering if I could speak to a manager or maybe the owner of the store about the sign out front?”

“What sign?” The lady asked, looking quite confused about what he was talking about.

Kyle tilted his head in confusion. “The uh… Help wanted sign?” he questioned back. He felt unsure now if he had even seen the sign or if his mind had made up the sign entirely as an excuse for him to finally go up to the store.

The lady’s eyebrows furrowed as she reached up to tap her chin in thought. Kyle was honestly starting to freak out but he was broken out of his internal spiral by the lady exaggeratedly snapping her fingers, eyes shining. “Oh  _ that  _ help wanted sign! Of course, how could I forget.” The lady rubbed her neck in feigned embarrassment as she laughed at her own forgetfulness. Kyle just stared at her in bewilderment. 

After calming down, the lady cleared her throat and straightened her posture. “Pardon my forgetfulness, I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my shoulders.” She reached out her hand towards him, “My name is Emilia and I am the owner of this shop.” She gave Kyle a bright smile as he hesitantly shook her hand. “Are you interested in the position?”

__________

That night after talking with the store owner, Kyle went home and thought about what he had learned about the position and if he was going to take it or not. He had asked Emilia about what the responsibilities and hours for the job were and she had simply told him,  _ “The hours would probably be eleven till around four o’ clock… or whenever works for you. I would probably have you man the register and stock the store while I run errands around town.”  _ Kyle sat on his borrowed bed with his laptop open. He had been trying to look for any information about the small shop that he could, but based on the fact that it seemed like an older store, it had almost no internet presence whatsoever.

The description of the job was kind of vague, but it was pretty straight to the point. The shop and owner seemed pretty nice too. Leaning back against the headboard, he chewed on the end of the pencil he was holding and took honest consideration of the job. 

_ Do I really need to take this job? No. _

_ Did he know anything about the store or its owner? No. _

_ Did he have the strangest feeling deep down that he needed to take this job? Yes. _

_ __________ _

The next day, Kyle returned to the shop to find Emilia standing behind the counter this time. When she saw him walk into the door, she gave him a knowing smile, she didn’t even hesitate to reach her hand out to him, “You here for the position this time?”

_ Was he really planning on taking the job based on a feeling? _

A genuine smile made its way onto Kyle’s face as he grabbed Emilia’s hand to shake it.

“Yes.”


	2. Intruder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays Everyone!
> 
> I hope everyone has/had a fantastic holiday and here's a little present to you. 
> 
> Sorry this chapter took so long to write, I had all the big pieces written out I just couldn't transition through them comfortably. A lot happens in this chapter, just know that theirs a reason and it should pick up from here on out. I'm excited for next chapter and everything that I have planned for it. Once again, this is a book that I'll post to as I can due to my busy schedule.
> 
> I appreciate the love and support! So leave a kudo or a comment I love to interact with readers.  
> See you all next chapter!

The first couple days working at his new job had certainly been interesting.

The first thing that felt really off to Kyle, was the hiring process that he had to go through. Kyle may not have known much about how hiring processes work, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to be that easy or that informal. After signing some paperwork, Emilia hired him on the spot. Kyle didn’t need any parent/guardian permission which he found odd. Emilia afterwards told him what his hours were, dress code (normal clothes), and that he would be paid by check biweekly. The whole situation was kind of sketchy, but for his last summer of freedom, it was kind of exciting.

After the initial day of “hiring processes” Kyle was taught the responsibilities of his job. If he thought that there was going to be more to his job than what he was told originally, he was wrong. The first day Kyle learned how to run the register and stock the various items to the shelves. Those were his main, and only responsibilities, that he had while working. When his work was done, Emilia said she didn’t care what Kyle did with the rest of his time, she just had one rule he had to follow. DON’T GO INTO THE STORAGE ROOM!

The storage room was apparently the dark wood doorway that sat at the end of the hallway directly across from the front door of the shop. Kyle didn’t know what was so important about the storage room, but the look on Emilia’s face and the tone in her voice told him that was a line he shouldn't cross. Kyle did wonder though what was on the other side of the door, especially since Emilia spent so much time in there. To distract himself from his ever growing curiosity, Kyle kept himself busy with his daily tasks and when those were done, he drew. His newest drawing inspiration just happened to be the customers that came into Haven’s.

The customers of Haven’s Convenience Store were something special. Each customer that came through the store had some unique defining features to them. It could’ve been their hair, eyes, or maybe even their height or some tattoos. Some of them had interesting choices for outfits (looking as though they were from another time) and others had accents for languages that Kyle had never heard before. It was definitely one of the highlights of his shift when an actual customer came through. He always found them as some sort of inspiration for the art that he worked on in his new Sketchbook that he had bought specifically for when he had his down time at his new job.

They were pretty interesting, though he rarely saw one. His boss informed him that most of the customers came before or after he worked. Kyle guessed that made some sense, since he generally worked in the middle of the working day. Still it felt rather odd to him to only have seen a few customers in the couple days that he had been working.

___________ 

Kyle quickly got used to the routine of his new job and enjoyed the relaxed environment as well as his boss. Even though everything leading up to this point had been pretty out of the ordinary, Kyle’s first week working at Haven’s had flown by and before he knew it April had passed and May had begun. Things settled down and it had started to appear that everything would just be normal, but the feeling in Kyle’s gut telling him that things were about to change, something was about to happen, wouldn’t go away. Kyle did his best to ignore the feeling and go about his days.

During Kyle's first few days of working at the store, he found out that some of his initial impressions of what the store contained were wrong. Though there were a lot of items that you would find in normal stores, there are also plenty of weird items that Kyle was not familiar with. Some of these items were different types of food that he had never heard of. On the back wall tucked away by the coolers, there was a bookshelf full of books that contained information on worlds and things that he couldn't even imagine being curious about. Though Kyle found all of this a little weird, it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. He actually found enjoyment in searching through the different products that Haven’s carried.

__________ 

Everything had been running smoothly, it was just supposed to be another day. Kyle had arrived to work and went about his established routine. Emilia said that she had some errands to run in town and that she would be back later in the day. Kyle still thought it was really weird that she trusted a seventeen year old with her shop, he was pretty sure that some part of that was illegal as well, but it wasn’t any of his business. 

Kyle had been done with the stocking for a while and like usual no customers had made their way into the store (much to his disappointment), so he was pretty bored. He had spent a good portion of his time drawing and adding details into his dream sketchbook, but no matter how much he loved to draw, he could only draw for so long. Kyle shut his notebook and looked around himself.  _ Maybe I can find something to entertain myself around the store.  _ Kyle grabbed his sketchbook off the counter and bent to tuck it back into his bag that he stored underneath the register for safe keeping. Just as Kyle was about to come out from underneath the counter, he suddenly heard a soft voice, “Hello?”

Not hearing that anyone had entered the store, the voice startled Kyle enough that he jumped in his spot, smacking his head quite hard on the counter above him. He silently cursed as he took a moment, still on the ground, to rub his head and think back to the first day he entered the shop and did the same thing to Emilia (mentally making a note to actually apologize later). When he finally stood up, he didn’t know what to expect, but he wasn’t expecting to see a young girl.

Though Kyle was sure he had never seen her before in his life, there was something familiar about her. She looked to be only a few years younger than he was. The girl wore a green jacket with a purple collared shirt underneath, black pants, and black boots. She had shoulder length, light brown hair which appeared to be tied back by purple ribbon that was a similar shade to her shirt. The last thing that he noticed about her was the naggingly familiar shade of blue that were her eyes. Kyle was sure she was a stranger to him, but he still felt this strange familiarity to her as well as protectiveness.

Currently the girl was staring at him with fear in her eyes and stance, she looked terrified seeing him standing up from behind the counter, which was understandable. From Kyle’s understanding, Emilia had never had another worker within the store besides him. Hoping to ease some of her panic, Kyle ignored the lingering pain in his head and cleared his throat, “How can I help you today?”

“Who are you? What are you doing behind the store clerk’s counter?”

Kyle was taken aback by the harshness in the girl’s slightly quivering voice. Though she appeared to be scared, she seemed to have this stubborn determination about her as she tried to figure out who this stranger was behind the register. Kyle simply sighed and rubbed the back of his head, already feeling the bump forming. Crossing his arms over his chest he answered “Look kid, my name is Kyle. I work for Emilia, started about a week ago.” Kyle finished introducing himself and before leaving it off he added, “And, you are?”

The girl’s face once again changed from that stubborn determination, to annoyance, for a second he thought she wasn’t going to answer him. She moved her stance to mimic his as her cheeks puffed, “My name is Karen, and I’m not a kid, I’m fourteen.” Kyle chuckled at the girl’s constantly changing emotions, it was a relief though to see that Karen (as he now knew her name to be) no longer seemed to feel threatened by his presence. “Where is Emilia?”

“She went out a few hours ago, said she had some errands to take care of.” Kyle watched Karen’s face fall, he had no idea why she needed to see Emilia, but it seemed important. “Sorry kid, I don’t know when she is going to be back either. I can leave a message for her when she gets back so she can contact you, if you’d like?”

Karen quickly shook her. She wrung the edge of her jacket in her hands, “No! Thank you but it’s fine, I can come back at a later time.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow at her sudden outburst, “It really isn’t a problem, Karen. Let me just grab a pen and notepad and I can get everything down for you.” As Kyle stated this, he bent down to reach under the counter to grab the materials he needed. Standing up, he clicked the pen, “Alright Karen, why did you…”

Kyle blinked to himself. _Where did she go?_ His eyebrows furrowed as he looked around the store, Karen was nowhere in sight. _She was just in here, right?_ The store was quiet and empty, save for himself. Kyle sat down heavily on the stool behind the counter, now not quite sure of himself. Shaking his head, he should have guessed that more weird things would happen during his time at Haven’s. _I’m probably just imagining things since it's been pretty slow today. I just need to find something to distract myself for the last hour of my shift. Then I can go back to my grandparents’ house._

Rolling his eyes at his own foolishness, Kyle once again reached into his bag and pulled out his sketchbook. With nothing else on his mind to draw, he spent his last hour of time drawing the mysterious girl who had disappeared as fast as she had came.

__________

The hour flew by without Kyle noticing. Before he knew it, it was time for him to leave and Emilia was still nowhere in sight. Kyle packed up his drawing supplies into his bag slowly, and went about doing one last zone of the store. After deciding it was clean enough, Kyle went to Emilia’s office (which was down the hall) and grabbed her spare key from the draw in her desk. He walked out the front door and let it click closed behind him.

The sun was just starting to set, making rainbows through the buildings surrounding the shop. He felt a soft breeze flow through the garden and enjoyed a quick breath of the fresh evening air, he turned and was about to lock the front when from behind him he heard a breathless “Kyle!”

Kyle quickly turned around to see Emilia running towards him. She jogged the rest of the way through the garden towards him, and stopped, collecting her breath. She stood up straight and redid the bun her hair was in. She gave him a lopsided grin, “Sorry I’ve been gone all day. Things took a little longer than I thought they would. Glad I caught you before you left.” 

Kyle shook his head at his boss’s antics, lifting up the hand that held the key in it, he handed it off to her, “I was just about to lock up the store since you hadn’t shown back up.” Emilia took the key and opened the door to the shop and started to walk inside. Kyle thought about just saying goodnight and leaving but instead he decided to follow her back inside the store, “Hey Emilia, can I talk to you about something really quick?”

Emilia walked behind the counter and placed the bag she was carrying on it, as she glanced at him with a curious look. Kyle shifted in his spot, he suddenly felt really uncomfortable with telling her about what had happened during the day. Mulling over his words, he made his way to drop his own bag on the counter next to hers, Emilia’s eyes following his movements. Finally deciding to get it over with, Kyle looked up to her, “Something really weird happened today, actually about an hour ago, it happened.”

“Oh? And, what would that  _ something weird  _ be?” Emilia asked, raising her eyebrow.

“A girl appeared in the store.” Kyle stated.

Emilia burst out in a fit of laughter, “Was that all? I know that not a lot of customers come into the store during your shift, but I promise, the occasional female shopper isn’t anything new.” Emilia finished off giggling.

Kyle mentally facepalmed. With a groan, he rubbed his face with his hand before continuing, “I’m aware that there is the occasional female shopper, Emilia.” He stared at her pointedly as she continued to giggle. “When I say  _ appeared,  _ I mean she showed up out of nowhere. And… and when she left, it was like she disappeared without a trace as well. I literally bent down for two seconds and when I came back up, she was just…  _ gone _ .” That seemed to have caught her attention.

“What do you mean?” Emilia’s giggles had abruptly stopped and she now watched him with a cautious look. Kyle was unsure why she had a sudden mood change but it was making him feel really uneasy.

“Look, it... it was probably nothing.” Kyle stuttered out. “Forget I said anything. I should probably get going. I think my grandparents had mentioned…”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Both Kyle and Emilia jumped in their spots and whipped around to look towards where the noise was coming from, which just so happened to be the storage room.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Kyle quickly turned to Emilia to say something but noticed the terrified look on her face. Kyle’s blood ran cold as a sinking feeling settled in his gut. It was hard for him to keep his voice steady when he started to ask her “Emilia, what’s going…”

“ _ Shush! _ ” She whispered harshly, she raised her hand to quiet him as she kept glancing between him and the door at the end of the hallway. Emilia’s eyes were wild as she looked like she was trying to figure out what was going on. 

With every bang, Kyle watched the the door struggle on its hinges,

BANG! BANG! CRACK!

Kyle’s eyes widened as the door to the storage room started to break. Splinters of wood shot out into the hallway. Emilia suddenly moved with a sense of extreme urgency as she nimbly jumped over the counter and roughly grabbed his arm, dragging him to dive behind the nearby shelves just in time before Kyle heard the loud  _ BOOM _ !

The two covered their heads as a large explosion happened from down the hallway. A large shock wave blasted through the store and lightning flashed above their heads, short circuiting the lights in the store. With the lights out, the only thing illuminating the store was the setting sun peeking from behind glass buildings. 

When the noise had settled, Kyle slowly crawled to the edge of the shelves to peek around the corner. He felt Emilia tugging on the cuffs of his jeans but his curiosity got the better of him, his eyes widened as he held his breath.

From down the hallway, Kyle could see the open doorway of the storage room. In the forbidden storage room, Kyle could see something that looked like a portal that he would see in video game commercials. It filled almost the whole back wall. It was surrounded by a dark wood border and the portal itself was filled with an angry swirl of dark blues, purples, and black. He could only spend a moment focusing on the weird portal thing in the storage room because there was something even more worrying, someone to be more exact.

Standing in the doorway was a person. Kyle couldn’t tell if they were male or female, but 

this intruder was not your average person. They had on a green cloak with the hood pulled over their head so you couldn’t see their face. Kyle couldn’t see a lot of what they were wearing from under the cloak, but he could see dark green baggy pants and the beginnings of a teal shirt peeking out from underneath. Kyle could see that the intruder had on metal boots as well as metal gloves covering whatever skin might have been showing. The last thing he noticed were two giant metal metal buttons adorning the front of the cloak.

The Intruder began walking down the hallway with slow heavy footsteps, each step creating a metal  _ clang  _ that resounded through the store as they made their way towards Kyle and Emilia’s location. Kyle quickly ducked back behind shelves, turning to face Emilia. His heart was pounding in his ears and looked at her with growing concern. 

Kyle bit his lower lip. Emilia's gaze softened as she reached up to gently cup his cheek. He had no idea what was going on, but a feeling in the pit of his stomach was telling him that she was trying to say goodbye. 

Lightning flashed overhead causing both of them to duck down. Emilia quickly signaled for him to stay as she turned away from him. She pulled a golden cylinder from inside her pocket and clicked an emerald button on the outside. Kyle’s eyes widened as he watched the small cylinder turn into an elegant staff. Emilia gave him a quick nod and then made her way around the other end of the shelves. 

It wasn’t even a minute later that more lightning flashed over head and Kyle heard the sound of metal clashing. He had no idea what was happening at this point and didn’t know if there even was a point in trying to see what was going on.  _ This is insane! This can’t be real. _

From his spot, Kyle could hear the fighting continue. Metal on Metal, grunts and groans as the two people beyond his hiding shelf continued to battle. Nothing in Kyle’s known life could have ever prepared him for facing something like this. 

While Kyle was still in the process of trying to comprehend what was going on, he heard Emilia cry out and a moment later saw her body be flung past him into the front door. Without even thinking, Kyle raced out from his hiding spot to help her. When he reached Emilia’s side, he knelt down next to her.

Emilia was looking pretty beat up. Her bun had come loose, causing her long hair to cascade around her on the floor. Kyle noted that some of her white hair was starting to turn red. Her outfit was torn in spots and the arm that was initially holding the staff had an ugly looking burn on it, the staff lay back as a cylinder at her side. 

Kyle looked up for a moment and had only just realized that the front door, instead of breaking open, had simply bent under the impact of her weight to create a crater. He didn’t have much time to wonder about this though because on the floor, near where Emilia landed, Kyle could see the reflection of the intruder on a piece of glass standing right behind him. 

The intruder raised his arm and lightning sparked from his fist. The fist came down but with a speed he didn’t know he had, Kyle was able to take hold of the staff and activate it in time to prevent the fist from coming down on them. 

The intruder’s fist made contact with the staff, sending another shockwave through the store. Much to Kyle’s surprise though, he was able to hold his own against the mighty power of the intruder. The two struggled for a few moments before Kyle used an unknown strength of his own to force the intruder’s fist backwards and push the intruder away a few feet.

Kyle had no time to marvel in anything he was doing at the moment. His head was reeling and his body was on autopilot at this point. He deactivated the staff (shoving it in his pocket) and quickly grabbed Emilia’s arm with his free hand and pulled her away from the door. They raced back behind the shelves just as the intruder regained their bearings and shot lightning towards their original spot. The intruder growled angrily and they started to make their way to follow the two store employees around. Frustration clear in their movements as they try to get to Emilia and Kyle. 

The intruder chases them around the front end of the store and around the back. As they raced towards the front once again, the intruder cut them off from the front door and forced them backwards down the hallway towards the storage room. Emilia stood between Kyle and the intruder, nobody daring to make a move. Behind him Kyle could vaguely hear the sounds of the weird portal looking thing, it made a low humming sound that seemed to echo a lot louder than it needed to. A slow, distant clanking sound could be heard.

Kyle had no idea what Emilia planned on doing to hold the intruder off. She stood in a fighting stance, feet apart and fists at the ready. Kyle was mentally trying to figure out how the two of them were going to escape this. The door was now a crater and the windows were all too small. It was obvious now that the storage room wasn’t an escape option either. This all was still so unreal to him.

Behind him, the sound from the portal changed. The clanking sound was becoming faster, louder, as if it was getting closer. Kyle had only just noticed the change in noise when suddenly something wrapped around his ankles and yanked him off his feet. He barely let out a yelp before his body smacked against the floor, jarring his whole being. 

Whatever had grabbed his ankles, started to drag him backwards down the hallway. After the initial shock of the impact with the floor, Kyle spared a quick look behind him to see what had grabbed him. His blood ran cold as he saw that dark, inky chains had shot from the portal and had wrapped themselves around his feet. They were starting to pull him towards the portal. Kyle’s internal panic started to take over as he tried to clutch anything around him to try and halt his path.

“Emilia!”

Just as Emilia had turned to see what Kyle was yelling so frantically about, that is when the intruder had decided to make their next attack. 

Emilia’s eyes widened as she tried to run and grab his hand but the intruder grabbed her instead. The intruder hooked they’re arms under hers, locking her in place, and placed both their hands on either side of her head. Emilia’s face scrunched as the intruder lifted her off the ground and started crushing her head between their hands.

Emilia screamed, trying to scratch at the hands holding her head and legs kicking backwards, trying to make contact. Upon seeing Emilia in pain, that unknown strength from earlier reappeared as he caught the edge of the door frame to Emilia’s office. Blood was pounding in his ears as he used his grip to pull himself forward, struggling against the might of the chains, so that his other hand could grab onto the frame as well.  _ I have to help Emilia! _

With both hands secured on the door frame, Kyle pulled himself forward with all his might. He manages to force his right leg forward and catch in on one of the indents in the floor that the intruder had made, wedging it into the dent, he uses it as more leverage against the chains that were now pulling even stronger. 

Suddenly, everything seemed to happen all at once. Kyle had almost managed to get himself into a standing position when more chains shot from the portal and wrapped around his waist, giving one strong pull it finally broke Kyle’s hold. The wood of the frame shattered under his fingers as he was forcefully yanked backwards. 

Kyle was flying backwards towards the portal. As he flew closer he could only spare one last glance towards Emilia and the intruder.

Just before he entered the portal the last thing he saw was the intruder give Emilia’s head one last squeeze before they dropped her lifeless to the ground. All he could do was cry out as her image faded beyond the waves of the portal entrance. 

Lightning flashed above him as he continued to be pulled down through the darkness of the portal. The last thing he heard was the distant, angry roar of the intruder who forever changed his life.


End file.
